Ranking: countries where expatriates are the happiest

Last October, the bank HSBC published its annual study “Expat Explorer” on expatriates living conditions abroad. It ranks countries of the World according to where the expatriates are the happiest. This study is based on 4 aspects of life: the economic situation of the country, the quality of life of expatriates there, their purchasing power and educational facilities available for their children.

This study was carried out between April, 29^th and June, 11^th 2013 by YouGov, a survey and study institute. More than 7000 expatriates coming from almost 100 countries on 4 continents were interviewed.

Through this blog article, we will transmit a part of the results of this study and compare them with what we have been observing so far.

According to the study, Asia seems to be the continent where expatriates are the happiest. Indeed, Asian countries constitute, most of the time, half of the top ten destinations of each ranking. In the ranking specific to expatriates’ quality of life, ease of installation and integration, Thailand is ranked number one, China 3^rd, Singapore 6^th, followed by India and Taiwan. In those countries, expatriates seem to have a richer social life and make friends easily (compared to their home countries).

The two other aspects where Asia leads are the economic situation of the country and the purchasing power of expatriates. It has been noticed that expatriates living in Asia earn more money than expatriates in Europe, which of course has a positive impact on expatriates’ purchasing power. On the contrary, European countries are ones of the most expensive destinations for expatriates (mostly Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, UK and France). Lower wages and a higher cost of life take European countries at the bottom of the ranking.

Expat expenses ranking

Regarding the economic situation of countries, expatriates living in emerging countries or the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are said to be very optimistic about the local economy. The top three of this ranking analyzing the potential for increased income, disposable income and the degree of satisfaction related to the economic outlook, is: Switzerland, China and Qatar. Expatriates living in those countries seem to have noticed an improvement of their financial situation after their expatriation.

So far, Asian countries lead in most of the rankings: quality of life, economic situation of the country and purchasing power; but they are not in the last one: “educational facilities available for expatriates’ children”. Except for Singapore, no Asian countries are present in the top ten. Europe leads this ranking with 4 European countries in the top ten of this study that considers childcare, health, welfare and education services.

1	Germany
2	Singapore
3	France
4	New Zealand
5	South Africa
6	Belgium
7	Australia
8	Canada
9	Spain
10	Russia

If we compare this study to the survey we’ve carried out few months ago (see the article published on August 27^th, “Foreigners’ perception of global cities”), we can notice than results are coherent. While France received a poor grade in term of accessibility of the local culture and adaptability to the local life, Seoul and Canada got good ones.

As recent posts were about the city of Paris, let’s take a deeper view on France.

France seems to attract expatriates from all ages: 32% of them have between 18 and 24 years-old, 33% between 34 and 54 years-old and 35% have more than 55 years-old. This last percentage is way more above the World average which is 21%. This shows how attractive France is for elderlies. Indeed, looking at the results, we can see that France is a destination where expatriates come to find opportunities for their career advancement. Only 28% of expatriates work full time in France which 26 points inferior to the World average.

France seems to be a better place for retirement than to work.

This kind of study is really interesting for people wanting to go work abroad. They can compare the results with what they expect from the destination they will live in. Apparently, this year, Asian countries are the most attractive for expatriates mostly because of career opportunities and high purchasing power. But we’ve heard many times that “money does not make happiness”, so for people with other priorities, others destinations will have to be considered.

References:

Le Nouvel Observateur, Challenges. 2013, Octobre 30th. Classement: les pays où les expatriés sont le plus heureux.

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